The startlist for the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia, features grand tour winners from 2019, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege champion, and countless other contenders.

Here are four on-odds on favorites for the “race of the fallen leaves,” and another three wily veterans who can’t be counted out.

Primoz Roglic

The winner of the 2019 Vuelta a España recently dominated the climb to the Sanctuary of San Luca in the Giro dell’Emilia and then launched a cunning attack in the final kilometer to win Tre Valli Varesine. Roglic will be backed by an all-star team at Lombardia, featuring American Sep Kuss, George Bennet, Laurence De Plus, and Stephen Kruijswijk.

In 2018, Roglic opened up Il Lombardia with an attack at the base of the Muro di Sormano but faded from the front group on the slopes of the Civiglio. Look for him and Jumbo-Visma to again play the antagonists in 2019.

Mike Woods

Lombardia is Mike Woods “white whale.” In his first attempt at the fall classic, he was dropped on a descent after making the lead group. In 2018, he was knocked out of contention by a mechanical on the descent of the Civiglio.

Woods displayed both guile and form on the Superga climb to win Milano-Torino over Alejandro Valverde and Adam Yates. Will the third time be the charm for the Canadian climber?

Egan Bernal

The reigning Tour de France champion put together a sensational Il Lombardia in 2018, bridging across to the lead group of Pinot, Valverde, and Roglic after the descent of the Sormano. On that day, Bernal didn’t have the legs on the Civiglio, but he’d also just returned from a traumatic crash at Clasica San Sebastian.

The Columbian climber cut his teeth racing for Androni-Giocattoli in Italy, and has raced the full swing of fall classics, riding away to a win at the Lombardia prelude, Gran Piemonte.

Jakob Fuglsang

Fuglsang said he was using the Vuelta a España to prepare for “later season goals,” making it clear he was eyeing Il Lombardia. A win at the season’s final monument would provide an incredible compliment to Fuglsang’s breakthrough Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory in the spring.

The Dane has been on the attack at the one-day races preceding Il Lombardia, but also has kinesio tape wrapped on his right knee, a sign he might be feeling late-season fatigue.

Vincenzo Nibali

Nibali won Lombardia in 2015 and 2017, but has not looked great this fall. He was unceremoniously dropped in both GP Quebec and the Giro dell’Emilia, well before the fireworks really kicked off. However, the Italian veteran is a master of holding his cards close to his chest and targeting specific races. He also regularly trains on the roads surrounding Como and can descend the Civiglio faster than almost anyone in the world.

Alejandro Valverde

No doubt the Spanish champion is on form, with second-place finishes at both GP Beghelli and Milano-Torino. The long, flat finishing straight in Como will play to Valverde’s strengths if Il Lombardia comes down to a group sprint. If the climbers listed above want to beat Valverde, they’ll need to distance him on either the Muro di Surmano or Civiglio climbs.

Philipe Gilbert

Gilbert was on great form heading into the World Championships, but suffered an unfortunate crash as the peloton hit the finishing circuits. A decade ago, before he transformed into a cobbled classics specialist, Gilbert twice won Il Lombardia. And the Belgian displayed impressive climbing legs in taking two stages of the Vuelta a España.

With Julian Alaphalippe skipping Il Lombardia, Gilbert will have free reign.